Railroad-track flanger and snow-plow



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. H. G. H. REED 8v J. DONOHUE.

RAILROAD TRACK RLANGRRk ANDRNOWPLOW. No. 328,718. atented Oct. Z0,11885.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. H. G. H. REED 8v J. DONOHUE.

RAILROAD TRAOK PLANGEB. AND SNOW PLOW. No. 328,718. Patented Oct. 20,1885.

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HORATIO G. H. REED AND JERRY DONOHUE, OF MILWAUKEE, VISCONSIN.

RAILROAD-TRACK FLANGER AND SNOW-PLOW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 328,718, dated October20, 1835,

Application filed August 17, 1895. Serial No.174,572. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Beit known that we, HoRATIo G. H. REED and JERRY DONOHUE, both ofMilwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee, and in the State of W'isconsin,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-TrackFlangers and Snow-Flows; and we do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description thereof.

Our invention relates to devices for removing snow from railroad-tracks,and especially from about the flanges of the rails thereof 5 and itconsists of certain peculiarities of construction, as will be fully setforth hereinafter.

In the drawings, Figure l isaside elevation of our device. Fig. 2 is aplan view of the same with the floor or bottom of t-he car removed; andFig. 3 is a front elevation, partly in section.

Our device is shown as being suspended from the floor-timbers andbetween the wheeltrucks of an ordinary box-car, only so much of which isshown as is necessary to illustrate the invention, the floor of the carbeing shown at A, strengthened on its under side by the timbers a a,&c., which are supported in the ordina-ry manner upon the trucks. (Notshown.)

B is the base-board of the plow, and this is suspended from the iioor Aby means of suitable bolts, and is located about midway between thefront and rear trucks a slight distance above the track. This base board(which may be of wood or metal, or both) is of considerablethickness,and its front edge is beveled off or inclined, as shown at b.

C is a rack-bar secured to the upper side of the floor A, and D is alever having an ordinary spring-catch, d, for engagement with thenotches c in the rack C at any point desired. The lever D is secured atd to the base-board B, and near its attached end carries a link, E, thelower end of which is pivoted to the cutter-blade F. An angle-plate, f,is bolted to the rear edge of the foundation F of the blade F, and oneiiange of this plate rests on the beveled front edge of the base-board Bwhen the lever D is at its forward limit, as shown in full lines in Fig.l, and the blade F is kept down to place when in use by means of aspring, e, on the link E. The blade F is connected by two straps orbraces, G G, to the timbers a a of the iloor A, and back of this pointof attachment each of said timbers is perforated to receive a rod, h,carrying a link, g, whose lower end is pivoted to the brace G, whileabove the timber a the rod h passes through a double spring, H, whosetension is regulated by the handscrew hC By means of the spring e,should the blade meet with a block of ice or other obstruction below thelevel of the rail, it would lift up and pass over it on either side ofthe track without injury.

The springs H H are to counterbalance the weight of the blade, so as toenable it to be more easily raised by the lever D.

The said blade F is made in sections, forming a series of steel knivesor cutting-plates, j f, which are bolted or otherwise secured to afoundation, F', so that the front edges of each section shall form acontinuous cutting-edge projecting below and beyond the front edge ofthe said foundation, both edges extending in the same curved line, asshown in Fig. 2,where the dotted line f 2 f2 indicates the front edge ofthe said foundation, which, furthermore, is hollowed out on its undersurface to receive and embrace the tread of the rails, and is bent orcurved down on each side of each rail, so as to form a sort of saddle,as shown at F in Fig. l.

A great advantage of making the cuttingA blade in sections lies in thefact that should one section f become broken or injured it could beremoved and replaced by a new plate without disturbing the rest of theblade F, thereby saving time, labor, and expense.

I I are the rear, and K K the side, wings or detlectors for guiding thesnow off the baseboard after it has been received thereon from thecutting-blade in the forward movement of the plow. The rear wings, I I,are stationary and the side wings, K K', movable. In the position ofthese parts shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the snow will pass off to theright and left of the track, being crowded off by the fresh accumulationof snow as the plow moves forward; but if, for instance, it is desiredthat the snow shall all pass off to the right of the track, (as on adouble-track road,) then the defiector Kis turned to the position shownin dotted lines in said ligure, and there made fast, the side wings ineither instance being IOS e azafiia secured by bolts J, which passthrough eye's k at the rear ends of the side wings and are made fast bynuts below the base-board. The other side wing, K, is capable of asimilar adjustment if it is desired that the snow shall be thrown to theother side of the track, and the front ends of the side wings aresecured in like manner by bolt-sjj, on which they easily turn.

As stated, our device is shown in connection with an ordinary box-car,the sides of which are indicated at a2 a2 in Fig. 3; but we do notconfine ourselves to such an arrangement, inasmuch as our snow-plow andrail-danger may be mounted Vnponor suspended from an independent'truck-frame or platform and adapted to go befoi e an engine or in anypart of a train, as desired.

Under some circumstances the movable wings K K may be unnecessary, andin such cases they may be dispensed `with and the stationary wings I Ibrought forward just back of the beveled front edge of the base-boardand there secured, in which levent a baseboard of less length wouldanswer the purpose. v

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, anddesire tosecure by Letters Patent, is o" 1. In a device for removing snow fromrailroad-tracks, the combination of a base-board with beveled orinclined front edge, a cuttingblade, the rear edge of which rests on thebeveled edge of the base-board, and a lever for changing the elevationof the Cuttingblade, substantially as set forth. v

2. In a device for removing snow from railroadtracks, the combination ofa base-board, a cutting-blade, the rear edge of which rests on thebase-board, a lever for changing the elevation of the cuttinglblade, alink for connecting the lever and cutting-blade, and a spring on thelink between the lever and blade, substantially as set forth.

3. In a device for removing snow from railroad-tracks, the combinationof a baseaboard, a cutting-blade, the rear edge of lwhich rests on thebase-board, a lever for changing the elevation of the cuttingblade, alink connecting the lever and cutting-blade and carrying aspringintermediate between said parts, and pivoted braces on either sideof the lever connecting the cutting-blade with the platform or truck-frame above it, substantially as set forth 4. In a device forremoving snow from railroad-tracks, the combination, with a truckframeor platform, of a base-board suspended therefrom, a cutting-blad`e, therear edge of which rests on the base-board, a lever for changing theelevation of thecutting-blade, a link connecting the lever andcutting-blade and carrying a spring intermediate betweenY said parts,pivoted braces connecting the cut- 4ting-blade with the frame orplatform above it, rods passing through the said frame or platformhaving tension springs secured to their upper ends, and links pivotedtosaid braces secured to their lower ends, substantially as set forth.

5. In a device for removing snow from railroad-tracks, the combination,with a baseboard having an inclined front edge, of a cutting-blade whoserear edge rests on the inclined front edge of the base-board andstationary wings secured to the base-board to deflect the snowtherefrom, substantially as set forth.

6. In a device for removing snow from railroad tracks,the combination,with a baseboard and stationary wings secured thereto, of mov able sidewings adaptedto be swung -from either side to the center and theresecured, whereby the snow may be thrown off on either side of thetrack,"s'ubstantiall y as set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our hands,at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, in thepresence of two witnesses.

HORATIO G. H. REED. JERRY DONOHUE.

Vitnesses:

H. G. UNDERwooD, M. E. FREAR.

